Sir Paul McCartney has to be reminded how to play Beatles tunes he wrote

Sir Paul, 77, admits he has to listen to old recordings to jog his memory about classics - because there are so many

Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney admits he has to be reminded how to play tunes he wrote with the Fab Four – because there are so many.

Macca, 77, says he sometimes needs bandmates to put him right in rehearsal, and even listens to old recordings to jog his memory.

Some of the group’s early hits are at least 55 years old – and Sir Paul has worked on more than 1,000 tunes that have been released.

He admitted: “I have to re-learn everything. I’ve written an awful lot, you can’t retain them all. We go in rehearsal and I’m, ‘Oh yeah, that’s how it goes’.”

Asked if he believes the works are “pretty good”, he laughed: “I do, I really do.

“Some of the old songs you say, ‘Oh, that’s clever, I wouldn’t have done that’.”

Paul, who reunited with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr on stage in Los Angeles two weeks ago, said: “It’s exciting to think that still works.

"We were a little rock and roll group from Liverpool, it just kept going.”

He has a children’s book out in September and says he “hopefully” has a new album on the way, adding: “Writing music is still a thrill – out of nowhere you produce a rabbit. If you get one you like it’s a great feeling.”